Blog

  • Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Laurence Robertson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the level of milk prices paid to farmers in comparison to their costs of production.

    George Eustice

    The latest AHDB league table suggests that average prices paid by milk purchasers ranged from 19.46 ppl to 34.68 ppl in November 2015.

    For farms in England in 2014/15, (latest available figures) The average cost of milk production in England was 29.2 pence per litre.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Daniel Zeichner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he plans to take to co-ordinate steps to enhance public transport and accelerate the transition to ultra-low emission vehicles.

    Andrew Jones

    We have an ambitious programme of improvement for public transport. The Government is investing more than £38 billion in Network Rail to deliver the biggest programme of railway modernisation since the Victorian times, and backing Transport for the North and Midlands Connect to enable cities and regions. We are also supporting technology upgrades on transport networks to meet the expectations of the digital age and to deliver extra capacity.

    We want nearly all cars and vans to be zero emission by 2050 and have committed more than £600 million between 2015 and 2020 to this goal, which is itself a substantial increase in funding compared to the previous Parliament. This investment will bring improvements to public transport as well. We have allocated £30m to support low emission buses, which will improve urban air quality, reduce running costs, and provide smoother more reliable journeys for passengers. We are supporting the installation of electric vehicle chargepoints at public transport hubs. 80 chargepoints have already been installed at train stations, and the £40m Go Ultra Low City Scheme includes plans for many more at strategic urban locations, such as park-and-ride sites, as well as measures to encourage EV car clubs. The low emission vehicle industry already supports over 18,000 UK jobs and it is a key element of our ambitions for a low carbon, high tech, high skills economy.

  • Fabian Hamilton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Fabian Hamilton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fabian Hamilton on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which Ministers and staff of her Department will be attending the Hanoi Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade in November 2016; and what the projected cost of that attendance will be in (a) staff salaries, (b) travel and (c) other costs.

    Rory Stewart

    The UK remains committed to its global leadership role in helping to tackle the illegal wildlife trade. During his visit to Vietnam in July 2015, the Prime Minister confirmed that the UK would provide £200,000 to support Vietnam in hosting a third high level international conference on the illegal wildlife trade. The Conference, to be held on 24-25 November 2016, will build on the successful London and Kasane Conferences of 2014 and 2015. Decisions about who will represent the UK at the Vietnam Conference have not yet been made.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what aspects of policy on (a) farming and (b) other issues within her remit are under discussion in the UK’s negotiations with other EU member states on the terms of UK membership of the EU; and what her role has been in those negotiations.

    George Eustice

    The Government is fighting hard to fix the aspects of our EU membership that cause so much frustration in the UK – so we get a better deal for the UK and secure our future. The Government is focused on delivering a successful renegotiation; it believes it can and will succeed in reforming and renegotiating our relationship with the EU.

    Separately, the UK continues to make the case for improvement to the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) so that it is simpler and more effective. Reducing the administrative burden of the CAP on farmers is a necessary part of increasing the competitiveness of our food and farming industries.

  • Robert Flello – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Robert Flello – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Flello on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information her Department holds on who took the decision not to use a professional heavy vehicle recovery operator to recover the bus which was trapped in floodwater in Dailley, Ayrshire, in December 2015.

    Rory Stewart

    These decisions would have been taken by the Scottish Government, as flooding is a devolved matter.

  • Robert Flello – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Robert Flello – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Flello on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information her Department holds on who took the decision to request the use of a helicopter to winch passengers off the bus in Dailley, Ayrshire, during the floods of December 2015.

    Rory Stewart

    These decisions would have been taken by the Scottish Government, as flooding is a devolved matter.

  • Jonathan Edwards – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Jonathan Edwards – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Edwards on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what representations her Department has received from the Welsh Government on energy costs for the steel industry in the last five years.

    Andrea Leadsom

    We have regular contact with all the Devolved Administrations across the Department’s responsibilities, including in relation to the current challenges facing the steel industry.

    The Welsh Government has participated in the three Ministerial Working Groups which the Government established as part of our comprehensive response to the current market conditions faced by the UK steel industry.

    The Government has taken clear action to help the steel industry, including on electricity costs. Since 2013, the UK steel industry has received over £59m in compensation for the cost of the EU Emissions Trading System and the Carbon Price Floor passed to them by their electricity suppliers onto their bills. UK steel companies can now also apply for compensation for the costs of renewables policies that are passed on through bills.

  • Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether all fines issued in June 2015 by the Environment Agency to aircraft operators for failure to surrender allowances under the EU Emissions Trading System were paid by the deadline.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Environment Agency did not issue any fines in June 2015 to aircraft operators for failure to surrender allowances under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme. However, the Environment Agency did publish in June 2015 the details of five civil penalties that had previously been issued to operators for failure to surrender sufficient allowances to cover reportable emissions in the 2012 scheme year. None of these civil penalties have yet been paid. The Environment Agency is taking action to recover the penalties as a civil debt, in line with UK law.

  • Gareth Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Gareth Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Johnson on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether the 450 million euros of funding from the EU allocated to carbon capture and storage projects in Yorkshire and the Humber will be spent in the UK following the decision to reduce spending on carbon capture and storage announced in the Comprehensive Spending Review.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Don Valley Carbon Capture and Storage project was awarded a €180m European Energy Programme for Recovery grant in 2009 which contributes towards the feasibility and design phase of the project’s development. The award remains in place.

    In 2013 the White Rose CCS project was awarded up to €300m in potential funding from the European Commission’s NER300 fund. Officials in the Department are in regular contact with the European Commission about this award and related issues.

  • Stephen Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Stephen Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Phillips on 2016-01-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, on how many occasions in each of the last two calendar years her Department has been notified by outside consultants or other third parties of breaches by employees or subcontractors of those consultants of document retention or security policies relating to confidential or secure materials.

    Andrea Leadsom

    No notifications have been received.